R&A Defending Decision To Host British Amateur Championship At Male-Only Club

The R&A has "defended its decision" to stage the 2019 British Amateur Championship at Portmarnock despite the County Dublin club’s "continuing refusal to admit women members," according to Mark Staniforth of the SCOTSMAN. Although the news was officially announced on Wednesday, R&A officials said that the hosting rights were finalized "prior to the decision in May by the Championship Committee to remove any clubs which maintain a single gender membership policy from the Open rota." There has been "no official confirmation that the same rule applies to the Amateur Championship." In a statement, the R&A said, "The invitation to Portmarnock pre-dated the Championship Committee’s decision not to take the Open to golf courses at single-gender clubs and it was agreed by the Championship Committee at the time that all existing agreements concerning The R&A’s amateur events would be honoured" (SCOTSMAN, 9/8).